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The chaos codex talks about why space marines might want to retire from the strict rules and restrictions that come with being one of the finest of the Emperor's champions.

It is a "duty" not a job.

40k is a futuristic totalitarian yet also somewhat feudal system. Employment is often through guilds and it often also transfers along familial lines. Yes, there is often payment for services, but being a marine is not just a job you take for the summer.

Salamanders are allowed "shore leave" when not deployed to battle. They live wth the people of their respective hives and villages as elders/leaders and as protectors. They are even allowed to have interactions with their pre-Astarte familes. Some Captains even encourage this practice.

Hierophant wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Your assumption is flawed because these things will not happen. A marine would never ask for time off, nor would he need any.

He does have the mental or physical limitations of a human which leads to "burnout". He has been programmed to be the perfect killing machine, and to enjoy every second of it.

Sure, and the Horus Heresy never happened. Corax didn't have a nervous breakdown that led to him running away either. No marine, clearly, ever experienced self doubt.

The Primarch's were not Space Marines.

A space marine is obviously not infallible. But he won't fail because he got burned out constantly fighting. He might decide that he doesn't want to fight for the Emperor and wants to fight for himself, or a Chaos God. But he'll never want to just stop fighting. He'll never want to go settle down on some planet to grow cabbages.

 Mantorok wrote:

P.S. a pilgrimage in 40K is basically suicide unless you're a primarch.

Not really. People go on pilgrimmages all the time in 40k. To Terra, to Hagia, to Mars... it's pretty much expected of any normal human who gets enough wealth to do so.

Da Butcha wrote:
I think that, effectively, if you can be a Space Marine, you aren't going to want to quit or retire.

Pretty much this. The prospective recruits are young boys put through grueling tests and then modified with implants and hypno-conditioning. They were never adults like us. They didn't have any idea of what life could be (except whatever hellhole they lived in before being recruited) and the 5-6 years it takes to make them full Marines strips away most of what they were. Then they do more grueling tests and congratulations! You are one of the best, now join our secret cult!

It's like the Sardaukar of the Dune books ramped up to 11 - put people in a hellish environment, then recruit the survivors and make them feel special for being so tough and resourceful.

Or pretty much any modern-day extra special force with hellish training and final tests. Those guys aren't (quite as) brainwashed but they do have a strong sense of pride over their accomplishments and status.

They can absolutely retire. The Eye of Terror is the retirement village where they can throw half their guns away and forget half the stuff that made them useful as they descend into dementia.

 Grey Templar wrote:

Hierophant wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Your assumption is flawed because these things will not happen. A marine would never ask for time off, nor would he need any.

He does have the mental or physical limitations of a human which leads to "burnout". He has been programmed to be the perfect killing machine, and to enjoy every second of it.

Sure, and the Horus Heresy never happened. Corax didn't have a nervous breakdown that led to him running away either. No marine, clearly, ever experienced self doubt.

The Primarch's were not Space Marines.

A space marine is obviously not infallible. But he won't fail because he got burned out constantly fighting. He might decide that he doesn't want to fight for the Emperor and wants to fight for himself, or a Chaos God. But he'll never want to just stop fighting. He'll never want to go settle down on some planet to grow cabbages.

One should remember that the HH Marines did not get the same psycho-indoctrination and hypno-conditioning the Marines got today. They were trained to be rational rather than fanatical. Some Traitor Legions like the World Eaters, Iron Warriors and Night Lords built up spite towards the Imperium for other reasons than just self-doubt. In fact, most or all of them did.

No Legion turned traitor while its Primarch was loyal, and vice versa. The Dark Angels had some go traitor, but due to extremely unusual circumstances. The Primarchs were the ones the Marines were loyal to and followed, loyalist or traitor, and the Primarchs were flawed beings.

As for the topic, in The Chapter's Due there's a heavily wounded and retired Ultramarine training PDF on Tarentus.

"Only in death does duty end".

 Ashiraya wrote:


No Legion turned traitor while its Primarch was loyal, and vice versa. The Dark Angels had some go traitor, but due to extremely unusual circumstances. The Primarchs were the ones the Marines were loyal to and followed, loyalist or traitor, and the Primarchs were flawed beings.

... There were lots of Marines who didn't turn traitor when their legions did.

The whole Drop Site Massacre happened because the fallen Primarchs knew that large parts of their Legions would refuse to turn traitor.

 Ir0njack wrote:
The only chapter I could thing of where something "close" mught happen is the salamanders as they are the token "people marines".

Granted such a position would still probably be withing the chapter's structure but it might involve working with or supporting the civilian population of Nocturne or scouting recruits. Even then a marine is still a marine, essentially they are property of the imperium. Genetically and mentally altered to be mankinds most deadly warriors untill the day they die.

As for holidays or burnout, supposedly marines are so different in their mindset that they can't really be said to think the same as a mortal so who knows?

Salamanders are allowed to rear families, iirc, so it would not surprise me if some Salamanders were allowed to act as a permanent planetary garrison, and simply live their lives out with their families until Nocturne gets invaded and they have their skulls crushed.

The Salamanders are allowed to associate with their families, not have them. The "family" that they hang out with are the children or grand-children of their siblings, since the induction and initial training process of a Space Marine takes so very long (as much as a century, by some accounts).

It's not their own progeny they're associating with, unless one somehow had kids before being selected as an Aspirant. Exceedingly unlikely, but not impossible, I suppose.

 Psienesis wrote:
The Salamanders are allowed to associate with their families, not have them. The "family" that they hang out with are the children or grand-children of their siblings, since the induction and initial training process of a Space Marine takes so very long (as much as a century, by some accounts).

It's not their own progeny they're associating with, unless one somehow had kids before being selected as an Aspirant. Exceedingly unlikely, but not impossible, I suppose.

There is no official fluff one whether or not Astartes can mate, so we don't really know if the Salamanders are sort of just the patriarch of their family, or if they're actually able to have children.

Given that they're taken in as prepubescent children and then genetically modified, it's extremely unlikely.

They would definitely be sterile. My guess is all their normal sex drive impulses have been rerouted to combat related procedures.

Even if they're not sterile, they're effectively sterile because their genetics are significantly altered from human norms. Even if a child were conceived, its body would be adapted to work with eighteen additional organs that it doesn't have, likely causing in-utero termination.

No, I don't think that's the case; the implants are surgical additions, not the result of altering the Marine's own genome. Presumably the Imperium has much better immunosuppressants available to it than we do, to prevent rejection of these transplanted organs.

It's never, IIRC, been addressed whether Marines are physically sterile or unable to interbreed with ordinary humans. Ragnar might have experienced some kind of physical attraction to the female Inquisitor he shared a ship with on the way to Earth, but it never went anywhere. Personally, I think those sort of drives are dealt with by the training, the Chapter's religious/ritual behaviours and hypnoconditioning.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:
No, I don't think that's the case; the implants are surgical additions, not the result of altering the Marine's own genome. Presumably the Imperium has much better immunosuppressants available to it than we do, to prevent rejection of these transplanted organs.

Aye, the implants are additions. As for organ rejection that's probably a big part of failed aspirants - IIRC many marines have to regularly be monitored by the Apothecary just to make sure they keep on living with all the implants and vastly overclocked hormone production.

Wait, so how do they get to use their GI Bill money to go to college? Their recruiters must be slicker than recruiters today.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:
No, I don't think that's the case; the implants are surgical additions, not the result of altering the Marine's own genome. Presumably the Imperium has much better immunosuppressants available to it than we do, to prevent rejection of these transplanted organs.

It's never, IIRC, been addressed whether Marines are physically sterile or unable to interbreed with ordinary humans. Ragnar might have experienced some kind of physical attraction to the female Inquisitor he shared a ship with on the way to Earth, but it never went anywhere. Personally, I think those sort of drives are dealt with by the training, the Chapter's religious/ritual behaviours and hypnoconditioning.

Lexicanum wrote:Chemical Treatment - Until his initiation, a Marine must submit to constant tests and examinations. The newly implanted organs must be monitored very carefully, imbalances corrected, and any sign of maldevelopment treated. This chemical treatment is reduced after completion of the initiation process, but it never ends. Marines undergo periodic treatment for the rest of their lives in order to maintain a stable metabolism. Marine power armour suits contain monitoring equipment and drug dispensers to aid in this.

Regardless of the Space Marines' capability to reproduce via sexual organs, it's a tad OT, so lets stick to the OP's question.

 Wyzilla wrote:
Of course they can retire. They can take the Twenty Millimeter Retirement Plan. I've heard it has fantastic benefits, although it sounds a bit fishy coming from a Krieg Quartermaster.

Sounds like this...

 Furyou Miko wrote:
Even if they're not sterile, they're effectively sterile because their genetics are significantly altered from human norms. Even if a child were conceived, its body would be adapted to work with eighteen additional organs that it doesn't have, likely causing in-utero termination.

What?

Gene-seed doesn't change the Neophyte's genome, nor would it affect the non-gene seed gene seed.

 Wyzilla wrote:
Gene-seed doesn't change the Neophyte's genome, nor would it affect the non-gene seed gene seed.

But the altered hormone balance might affect their breeding apparatus. Steroid users often have decreased sperm count, for example. And marines are on more steroids individually than the entire East German "women's" Olympic team at their height.

Source: The Chapter's Due

There was one Ultramarine who retired to become an economic adviser on some planet or another.

I don't believe there is any specific fluff that confirms it, but I cannot imagine that Space Marines have anything "down there", given that they are created to be the perfect warriors, bereft of all the urges, fears, and unnecessary instincts of regular men.

I mean, guys, could you imagine how much more killing you could do in a given day, if you weren't thinking about what to do with "The Lion's Blade" all the time?

More TPS Reports could be filed than previously thought humanly possible.

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:


No Legion turned traitor while its Primarch was loyal, and vice versa. The Dark Angels had some go traitor, but due to extremely unusual circumstances. The Primarchs were the ones the Marines were loyal to and followed, loyalist or traitor, and the Primarchs were flawed beings.

... There were lots of Marines who didn't turn traitor when their legions did.

The whole Drop Site Massacre happened because the fallen Primarchs knew that large parts of their Legions would refuse to turn traitor.

I am well aware of the Drop Site Massacre. I refer to the Legions at large.

 Ashiraya wrote:

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:


No Legion turned traitor while its Primarch was loyal, and vice versa. The Dark Angels had some go traitor, but due to extremely unusual circumstances. The Primarchs were the ones the Marines were loyal to and followed, loyalist or traitor, and the Primarchs were flawed beings.

... There were lots of Marines who didn't turn traitor when their legions did.

The whole Drop Site Massacre happened because the fallen Primarchs knew that large parts of their Legions would refuse to turn traitor.

I am well aware of the Drop Site Massacre. I refer to the Legions at large.

All the traitor legions had some of their soldiers stay loyal, hence Istvaan where all the loyalists were dropped off on a planet, then bombarded, then when that didn't work assaulted, then finally bombarded again.

There were also cases of Loyalist primarchs having some of their legion try to mutinee. In the book "Scars"

So a whole legion didn't turn away from their Primarch, but I'm sure most legions dealt with some members attempting to break away to the other side.

The Ultramarines did not, and neither did the Iron Hands, Salamanders, Blood Angels or Imperial Fists.